A Snotty Post
The kids are still fighting through a cold. Or maybe it’s a sinus infection. Or possibly it’s some sort of nanotech invader. Whatever it is, it doesn’t want to leave the boys.
Abbie seems in good shape. Her nasal passages sound clear, and the only thing snotty about her is her attitude. Her improvement may be related to the antibiotics I’ve been giving her for a week now, or it could be because those magic gnomes mined all the treasure they could from her sinuses and have now moved on to another host.
The boys aren’t too sick; they’re just drifting in the same kind of miserable state they’ve been in for two weeks now. I think they’re turning a corner because I’m wiping less snot off their under-nose region. This could be because their system is producing less mucus, or it could be because they’re screaming less as the cold loosens its grip, facilitating a drop in crying-related runny noses.
Their worst time the past couple days has been mornings. You know how when you have a cold, you’re sinuses are completely plugged when you wake up because you’ve been horizontal all night, which prevents your sinuses from draining properly? And it takes many minutes before you’ve adequately blown and hacked all of the extraneous snot out of your passages? And until you do, you sound like a frog with a six-pack-a-day habit? With the disposition of a frog desperately trying to find the funds to support a six-pack-a-day habit? Now imagine that you lack the capacity to blow, hack, or comprehend what’s happening, and you have an idea of how the boys are in the morning.
They keep coughing until well after breakfast, vainly trying to dislodge the snot that cemented itself in their throats. Eventually it clears along with most of their nasal passages, though it is tough to determine exactly how much mucus is draining onto their upper lip because I usually feed them banana for breakfast.
That cough is particularly troublesome. I’ve woken up two hours early the past couple mornings to the sounds of a boy coughing. This is just like hearing the birds chirp at sunrise during the summer months, except now I can turn the monitor off and fall back to sleep in peace.
When I awake at the normal time, a boy is occasionally still coughing. I don’t know if he coughed the whole time, dozed off and woke back up coughing, or traded coughing duty with his brother. No matter how they spent the intervening time, someone is always cranky, partially from the cold attacking his system, but mostly because he just lost two hours of sleep.
Two days ago it was Ian who woke up early coughing. I fed him breakfast, and he spent the rest of the morning by my side as I tried to keep him from screaming. At first playing with him kept him calm. Later I had to hold him kept him calm. Eventually I had to toss him in the air kept him from screaming, not because it kept him entertained, but because he couldn’t catch his breath to scream. Finally I set him down for his nap 15 minutes early, and let him sleep 15 minutes late. This may not sound like much, but it was a direct violation of the Schedule, and threatened to disturb the entire day’s nap schedule. Instead he awoke happy, and I kicked myself for not setting him down sooner.
Yesterday was Tory’s turn to wake two hours early. I had a feeling we’d be in for a rough morning when he couldn’t finish his bottle without screaming. I pulled both boys out of their high chairs, set Ian in the living room, changed Tory’s diaper, and listened to Tory scream the entire time. This time I was wise enough to set him back down for a nap immediately. He screamed briefly before falling asleep for a solid hour, waking just in time for me to put him and his brother through their pre-morning nap routine. He understandably slept poorly during his scheduled morning nap.
This morning Tory woke up screaming two hours early, but not really coughing. I gave him a pacifier, and he drifted back to sleep. When I awoke, everybody was still sleeping. Hopefully this thing is finally leaving us.
Abbie seems in good shape. Her nasal passages sound clear, and the only thing snotty about her is her attitude. Her improvement may be related to the antibiotics I’ve been giving her for a week now, or it could be because those magic gnomes mined all the treasure they could from her sinuses and have now moved on to another host.
The boys aren’t too sick; they’re just drifting in the same kind of miserable state they’ve been in for two weeks now. I think they’re turning a corner because I’m wiping less snot off their under-nose region. This could be because their system is producing less mucus, or it could be because they’re screaming less as the cold loosens its grip, facilitating a drop in crying-related runny noses.
Their worst time the past couple days has been mornings. You know how when you have a cold, you’re sinuses are completely plugged when you wake up because you’ve been horizontal all night, which prevents your sinuses from draining properly? And it takes many minutes before you’ve adequately blown and hacked all of the extraneous snot out of your passages? And until you do, you sound like a frog with a six-pack-a-day habit? With the disposition of a frog desperately trying to find the funds to support a six-pack-a-day habit? Now imagine that you lack the capacity to blow, hack, or comprehend what’s happening, and you have an idea of how the boys are in the morning.
They keep coughing until well after breakfast, vainly trying to dislodge the snot that cemented itself in their throats. Eventually it clears along with most of their nasal passages, though it is tough to determine exactly how much mucus is draining onto their upper lip because I usually feed them banana for breakfast.
That cough is particularly troublesome. I’ve woken up two hours early the past couple mornings to the sounds of a boy coughing. This is just like hearing the birds chirp at sunrise during the summer months, except now I can turn the monitor off and fall back to sleep in peace.
When I awake at the normal time, a boy is occasionally still coughing. I don’t know if he coughed the whole time, dozed off and woke back up coughing, or traded coughing duty with his brother. No matter how they spent the intervening time, someone is always cranky, partially from the cold attacking his system, but mostly because he just lost two hours of sleep.
Two days ago it was Ian who woke up early coughing. I fed him breakfast, and he spent the rest of the morning by my side as I tried to keep him from screaming. At first playing with him kept him calm. Later I had to hold him kept him calm. Eventually I had to toss him in the air kept him from screaming, not because it kept him entertained, but because he couldn’t catch his breath to scream. Finally I set him down for his nap 15 minutes early, and let him sleep 15 minutes late. This may not sound like much, but it was a direct violation of the Schedule, and threatened to disturb the entire day’s nap schedule. Instead he awoke happy, and I kicked myself for not setting him down sooner.
Yesterday was Tory’s turn to wake two hours early. I had a feeling we’d be in for a rough morning when he couldn’t finish his bottle without screaming. I pulled both boys out of their high chairs, set Ian in the living room, changed Tory’s diaper, and listened to Tory scream the entire time. This time I was wise enough to set him back down for a nap immediately. He screamed briefly before falling asleep for a solid hour, waking just in time for me to put him and his brother through their pre-morning nap routine. He understandably slept poorly during his scheduled morning nap.
This morning Tory woke up screaming two hours early, but not really coughing. I gave him a pacifier, and he drifted back to sleep. When I awoke, everybody was still sleeping. Hopefully this thing is finally leaving us.
posted by Matt at
11:56 PM
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